Chapter 7

Just now, Xu Yuan hesitated between the two, ultimately choosing Rank Dan Xiu.

Fa Xiu sounds powerful, but the one I encountered didn't diligently cultivate the "Dao Law," instead chasing after heretical "Commerce Law," making it easy for others to exploit weaknesses.

In comparison, Rank Dan Xiu is genuine ability.

Rank Dan Xiu cultivates internal dan and longzhu waidan.

Longzhu waidan is for application, internal dan is the foundation.

Rank Dan Xiu have a saying: "Seeking external substances to strengthen oneself," pursuing the ultimate "Golden Core."

Moreover, the cultivation methods of Rank Dan Xiu are the most widespread—they can circulate Qi, gather and refine, or ingest substances, among other things.

So after this ball of fire settled in Xu Yuan's belly, he felt unusually hungry.

He searched everywhere, but the mountains held little that was edible.

And even if he saw wild fruits or similar things, Xu Yuan dared not eat them—could anything in Ghost Wushan be eaten casually!

Xu Yuan suddenly noticed the money bag in his hand and swallowed hard.

Those gold, silver, and copper… didn't seem entirely inedible.

Xu Yuan tried swallowing one silver bean—it slid into his belly, and the "abdominal fire" began refining it.

This was "ingestion."

Just as Wu Xiu often use "ingestion method" as auxiliary cultivation.

They consume copper and iron to strengthen their skin and bones.

The seventh-rank Wu Xiu have the saying "copper skin, iron bones," which originated from this.

One silver bean refined quickly, but Xu Yuan's hunger barely lessened, so he immediately swallowed several pieces of silver scraps.

Then came the copper coins; before he realized it, only the gold ingot remained in his hand.

Xu Yuan finally felt "full."

Thus he understood: this was the limit of his current cultivation.

These life-buying coins were forged by ninth-rank method, and Xu Yuan's Rank Dan Xiu level was currently unranked—refining this much was already difficult.

Xu Yuan went to where he chopped firewood and swung his axe to begin cutting.

After an hour, Xu Yuan suddenly felt the abdominal fire had completely refined all the life-buying coins.

He stood firm on the hillside, opened his mouth, and spat out a golden-silver glowing dan pellet that shot forth with a whoosh, heading straight for a tree as thick as a bowl.

Crack!

The tree was severed midway.

Xu Yuan waved his hand, and the dan pellet circled back, landing in his palm, spinning rapidly.

Heavy in his hand.

The entire weight of the silver and copper he'd swallowed was now concentrated in this single dan pellet.

But since the quantity was small, the dan's power was limited to breaking one tree.

Yet this dan pellet also condensed the life-buying commerce methods embedded in those silver and copper coins.

Rank Dan Xiu can condense "substances" into dan, and also condense "methods" into dan. So ideally, two separate dan should have been formed, but Xu Yuan was still unranked and couldn't achieve such precision—he mixed them together.

After this dan was formed, Xu Yuan felt "hungry" again.

So he took out the gold ingot and swallowed it again.

……

Before nightfall, Xu Yuan returned to town carrying a bundle of firewood.

"Yi Fang Ting" inn stood in the center of town, right beside the official road.

Master Qiao naturally claimed the best location.

As Xu Yuan passed "Zhao's Leather Shop" at the town's eastern end, he unconsciously glanced upward—the window upstairs was closed.

Several people stood behind the window, watching Xu Yuan through the gaps.

When Xu Yuan looked up, the people swiftly ducked aside.

"Only this kid came back," said Zhao Yong, owner of the leather shop, in a low voice.

Everyone understood what this meant.

"Did he kill Huang Wanliang and Fatty Bao?"

"This kid has serious problems!"

Huang Wanliang was the Fa Xiu.

Zhao Yong thought for a moment: "I'll inform the Holy Mother."

……

Zhao Yong didn't use the front door—the Holy Mother had instructed him not to expose their connection.

Zhao Yong was a Wu Xiu, agile as a monkey; he easily climbed the outer wall to the base of the Holy Mother's window.

The window was open, and the sound of running water came from within.

The Holy Mother was bathing.

Zhao Yong quickly pulled his head back from the window.

The Holy Mother's tinkling laugh came through: "If you want to look, just look."

Zhao Yong whispered repeatedly, "I dare not."

It wasn't that he didn't want to look—he truly dared not.

"A coward with lust but no courage."

Zhao Yong whispered his report: "Huang Wanliang and Fatty Bao didn't return."

The water sounds stopped; after a moment, the Holy Mother said, "I understand. Return now."

Zhao Yong replied, "Yes," and slipped away to return to the fur shop; soon after he entered, the night fell completely.

The Holy Maiden instructed from the bathtub: "Send Wu Haishan to give him a dose of medicine."

Wu Haishan arrived soon after: "That medicine cannot be given to him. If he could kill Huang Wanliang and Fatty Bao, he must be a cultivator. My medicine only works on ordinary people—if a cultivator takes it, it will backfire and harm me."

The Holy Maiden angrily waved her hand and ordered him away.

Wu Haishan walked away, drenched in sweat.

He was merely a ninth-rate Dan Xiu, but the Holy Maiden always brought him along because he possessed a potion that forced obedience.

If that potion lost its value to the Holy Maiden, he himself would have no value.

The Holy Maiden dismissed Wu Haishan, dried herself and dressed under her maid's service, then ordered: "Go test this boy's true worth!"

The maid bowed in obedience, then hesitated and urged: "Holy Maiden, the bait arrives tomorrow. Though this boy has some tricks, we should still prioritize the greater matter."

The Holy Maiden coldly replied: "I know my own mind!"

The maid dared say no more. She stepped toward the candlelight, where her shadow swayed—suddenly, the shadow detached from her body and glided away, slipping through the cracks in the wooden floor, avoiding all light, racing swiftly toward the back courtyard.

In the back courtyard, the shadow rose upright against the wall, then suddenly opened its eyes—two blood-red pupils.

The maid controlled the Yin Soldier to begin searching the back courtyard.

In a large room near the kitchen, the fat cook snored loudly, reeking of alcohol.

The Yin Soldier instinctively recoiled from the stench of alcohol; it peered in once, then drew back, following the wall to the second room, sniffed—the air held no life.

It then slipped to the third room's entrance, squeezed through the door crack—the room held two broken wooden beds, but only one was occupied.

The maid frowned. She recognized this man—he had delivered meals twice, his eyes lecherous, destined to be the Holy Maiden's next meal.

There were no other rooms in the back courtyard. Where had the boy gone?

The Holy Maiden asked: "What did you find?"

"The boy is not in the back courtyard."

The Holy Maiden frowned: "Impossible. Tonight is a curfew. Even if he is a cultivator, he could not have left the compound."

The maid was a Spirit Cultivator; after nightfall, she dared not send her Yin Soldier beyond the compound.

"I shall search again."

The Yin Soldier sniffed thoroughly through Er Liang's room—only one person's life energy remained.

It drifted out, slipped into the lifeless kitchen, checked the hearth and chimney—still nothing.

Finally, it crept into Rong Kui's large room.

The overpowering stench of alcohol made the Yin Soldier want to sneeze; the loud, prolonged snores made its mind ache as if shaken.

Still, it endured, searching every corner of the room.

"There really isn't any…," the maid murmured inwardly. The Holy Maiden sensed it: "Can't find him? Could the boy be hiding in one of the inn's empty rooms?"

The maid immediately recalled the Yin Soldier and searched every room one by one—hours passed, yet found nothing.

"Enough," the Holy Maiden covered her mouth with a slender hand and yawned. "Call it a night. Rest for now."

The maid felt ashamed of her failure, so she retracted her Yin Soldier and hid it inside a pottery jar in the back courtyard.

Tomorrow morning, we'll see where that boy has gone!

(End of Chapter)